Madison times. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1884-1???, 1887-06-25
FARM MANAGEMENT.
Planting Trees So as to Secure
the Largest Amount Of the
Best Fuel.
More Attention Should Be Paid to Proyid-
ing Cheap Food for Pigs in Summer
Raising Trees Tor Fuel

I
depends-on keeping down the running
expenses of a farm. The farmer who
! has little to buy does not have occasion
+ to sell much in order 10 supply himself
with the con- forts of life. Farmers who
live in e portion of the country That is
srarsely settled generally buy and sell
- great disadvantage. Nearly all
the products OF their places, except live
stock, command low prices, and for
some of them there is no market They
lave generally poor facilities for keep
ing milk and making butter and a,
consequence the latter is poor and sells
ior less than half the price Of that
made in creameries or In large and
well managed private diaries. They
get but little for poultry and eggs on
4 &C. cunt Of the expense OF sending them
Ia city market. Generally they have
u" way of disposing of potatoes, garden
vegetables, aud small fruits if they raise
more than they need for their own use.
They must depend on the sale of corn,
small grain, wool, and meat for raising
money with which to purchase sup
plies.
A high price is charged for almost
everything farmer living remote
from large town has to Guy, and the
quantity of most Of the goods is poor.
Wholesale grocers and the dealers in
various classes of manufactured arti-
Giles keep grades of goods for the city
trade, and others which are greatly
interior-fOr selling to country mer-
chants. Freights are high On all
heavy articles sent long distances into
the country. The credit system large
~ prevails there, and the times of
payments are uncertain and irregular
Tie country merchant is often accused
al charging axtortionate prices, and
the difference between what he pays
or goods and what he sells then for is
certainly large, "but taking one con-
Iteration with another, his lot is not
q happy one" Farmers who live in a
Part ofthe country that is not thickly
ir,ouled can exercise economy TO the
hest advantage by raising all the nee
essary supplies they possibly can on
their own places. By adopting this
course they will avoid the constant
trouble of going to market, save the
profit made by dealers in buying and
selling goods, keep out of debt, and be
independent of the trader and the
money lender.
No country in the world is better
supplied with fuel than this. We h ave
hard and soft coal. peat, and wood. The
price of soft coal in most parts of the
west is low. Still, the amount the
average prairie farmer pays for tLis
Inferior fuel in the course of year is
large. II this is multiplied by the
years in lifetime it often represents a
>um of money equal TO the value Of the
farm on which the coal has been con-
Sumed. There are few small farms on
which $50 worth of soft coal is not
burned in the course of year. The
coal bill for ten years is $500 and for
fifty years is $1,000. This money
might be saved, and many persons are
preparing to save it. Experiment has
demonstrated that ten acres of land
devoted to the production of trees will
heep a small family supplied with feul
10y the annual increase of wood. o.
course the land is worth something for
the production of grass and cultivated
crops, but the trees. if planted in strips
on the north or west sides of farms,
will generally pay for the land they
occupy by affording protection from
wind or snow. They will also greatly
add to the value of the place by improv.
my its appearance.
In producing the most and the best
fuel, trees that naturally grow tall and
have but few side branches should be
selected, and they should be planted
quite closely. By planting them near
together they will grow to trunk and
} not 10 branches. They will furnish thu
best of cord-wood, and the trunks will
be easy TO split, as they will contain
? out very few knots. Large knots occur
at the base of large limbs or branches
aud are necessary for supporting them
Open planting results in producing
trees with wide-spreading branches
whose trunks are full OF large knots
and which can only be split with great
'ililiculty. Close planting produces
4 tail trees with few spreading branches
The knots in the trunks wifi be small,
"a, most of the limbs will die ant
irOp off before they have at
tanned any considerable size. Ash
maple, and cottonwood trees can b
planted four feet apart each way
When large enough to furnish fuel hal
OF them can be cut out and burned. b
this process of thinning room will b
obtained fol the remainder to grow in
e Tall trees containing but few knots az
q easily prepared for fuel, and they ar
9 serviceable for breaking the force O
:. the wind.
,, ,. Young trees obtained from 4 nurser
q where the seed was planted in rows ar
% much better for setting out than thOs
70 found in u forest and which can be ha
:. for the trouble of digging them up an
: moving them. Ii is comparativel
? easy 10 dig up young trees in a nurser,
: IL the ground has been under GUILTY.:
!. t Oh. They are likely to be tall an
:. ,iraight, and they will bear remov,
q better than saplings obtained in fol
est. The nursery tree has ordinariI
. bren transplanted at least once befor
\ II is offered for sale, and when this
the case it has no taproot, while il
/. well supplied with small lateral root.
= Forest seedlings are likely to have lon
- lap-roots, which can not be dug IL,
=. hile their laterals can not be obtaine
/, entire, as they spread among the ROOT
= OF larger trees. Forest seed ngs al
o. not As likely TO thrive after their r,